Posts under ‘Alfred Donovan’

Media stories about Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS/A) have trended positive recently, Accern reports. The research group identifies positive and negative press coverage by monitoring more than 20 million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Royal Dutch Shell plc earned a coverage optimism score of 0.27 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news coverage about the company an impact score of 46.2619903115752 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the company’s share price in the next few days.read more

royaldutchshellplc.com is a Royal Dutch Shell gripe site and blog operated by Alfred and John Donovan, who engaged in several marketing campaigns with Shell during the 1980s and early 1990s. The father and son duo believe Shell violated intellectual property agreements and filed several law suits against Shell prior to starting several websites critical of Shell, including royaldutchshellplc.com. The site has been oft quoted in news sources and is known for its activities as an Internet leak and forum for Shell whistleblowers.read more

REGULARLY UPDATED: Links to 477 articles (and radio and TV broadcasts) by a host of publishers including the FT, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Dow Jones Newswires, Bloomberg, New York Times, CNBC, etc. plus UK House of Commons Select Committee Hansard records, information on U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission website, all containing references to this website, its founders Alfred and John Donovan (photo right) or their former company, Don Marketing. Includes newspaper and magazine articles, newsletters, video clip links and interview transcripts. All in date order. In addition, there are references to our websites and/or our activities, published in 60 books. In all, over 500 externally published references to date. Plus nearly 40,000 Shell related articles published on our own Shell themed websites. read more

Albert Einstein suggested a century ago that large-scale cosmic violence—two black holes colliding, for example—might send gravitational ripples through the universe like a stone disturbing the surface of a pond. In September physicists in the U.S. conclusively detected gravitational waves for the first time, again proving Einstein right. While it’s a safe assumption he wasn’t thinking about how building a wave observatory might lead to finding oil and gas, two physicists in Amsterdam have started a company betting they can.read more

Mr. Justice Laddie was well aware of our views and was placed in a very difficult position, with his credibility and reputation being publicly called into question and at the highest levels of the state. The various correspondence on the subject ended on 21 April 2005. By coincidence or otherwise, just eight weeks later, Mr. Justice Laddie resigned as a Judge in mysterious controversial circumstances…

By John Donovan

The following is an extract from a news report published on 4 May 2016:

About: John Donovan, Shell’s nightmare

His ebook tells the truly extraordinary story of a series of battles in an epic feud between him and the oil giant Royal Dutch Shell. It all stemmed from the repeated theft of intellectual property by Shell.

Donovan was chairman of a sales promotion agency, Don Marketing, that devised spectacularly successful forecourt promotions for Shell on an international basis. Many involved budgets of several million dollars. A mutually beneficial relationship lasted for over a decade.

This was followed by two decades of acrimony involving six High Court actions, a County Court case and proceedings via the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).read more

Royal Dutch Shell has told investors its purchase of BG can work even if oil prices average $50 a barrel for two years, its lowest estimate to date as it seeks to secure shareholder support for the $51 billion deal amid plunging crude markets.

The Anglo-Dutch group is confident investors will back the deal at a Jan. 27 meeting, even though crude prices are languishing near 12 year lows around $32 a barrel and it faces a cut to its credit ratings due to higher debts, sources with knowledge of its meetings with analysts and investors said.read more

10th Anniversary of Spectacular Domain Name Win Over Shell

By John Donovan

Ten years ago, in May 2005, Shell International Petroleum Company Limited served proceedings in New York against my late father Alfred Donovan, via The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in an attempt to seize the top level (.com) domain name for its newly merged company, Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

The new company had arisen from the ashes of the hydrocarbon reserves scandal, which in January 2004, had engulfed The Shell Transport and Trading Company and Royal Dutch Petroleum Company.read more

By John Donovan

Corporate espionage: Shell Cloak and Dagger activities spanning more than two decades – much of it directed against me

SHELL ALSO

Was responsible for covert operations against Greenpeace and other perceived enemies, using a serving secret service agent freelancing for a private spy firm closely connected with Shell

Employed private security contractors on the Corrib Gas Project to carry out surveillance operations in Ireland against the public and the press

Secretly applied pressure to The Sunday Times and The Financial Times in an attempt to suppress news coverage about me

In a recent Daily Mail article about Shell’s takeover bid for the BG Group, reference was made to a ‘cloak and dagger’ meeting between Shell’s chief executive Ben van Beurden and the chairman of BG Group, Andrew Gould, at The Dorchester Hotel.

It was obviously an important commercially sensitive meeting, but it hardly compares with the real ‘cloak and dagger’ activity for which Shell has been responsible over the decades, some of it directed at me and my late father, Alfred Donovan.read more

Indispensable for a fair trial: an independent, impartial Judge

By John Donovan

Last weekend, The Sunday Times devoted almost an entire double-page spread and their main editorial to a series of court cases involving The Sunday Times that raised questions about whether judges should declare their interests.

The Sunday Times was being sued for libel and malicious falsehood by Peter Cruddas in relation to allegations about a “cash- for-access” report involving the Conservative party.

After a senior judge Mr Justice Tugendhat, had initially found in favour of Mr Cruddas on all counts in July 2013, The Sunday Times found out that the judge had close family links to the Conservative party. One of his sons, Tom, was being adopted as a Tory candidate. read more

Links to a selection of published independent verifiable information relating to this website or its founders. Includes a TV documentary feature, newspaper and magazine articles, radio interview transcripts, newsletters etc, all also relating to Shell. All in date order. Includes a Newsletter from The One World Trust, an NGO with Special Consultative Status to the UN and a close relationship with the UK Parliament. Some links are to pdf files that may take a little time to download.

You and your late father seem to have started out trying to hold Shell accountable for its actions. I hope you agree that accountability goes both ways, and it is fair that you should be held accountable for your own actions as well. The energy that fuels your website seems to be a deep resentment, or even hatred.

By John Donovan

I have published below a letter received today from Ireland. It relates to OSSL allegations against Shell.

Although the source is anonymous, the letter writer seems intelligent and genuine.

Otherwise I would not publish it or respond to what is said.

The first version is exactly as received.

In the second version, for ease of reference, I have inserted my comments in red text.

AN ANONYMOUS LETTER WITH A DUBLIN POSTMARK

Sept 4, 2014

Dear Mr Donovan

You and your late father seem to have started out trying to hold Shell accountable for its actions. I hope you agree that accountability goes both ways, and it is fair that you should be held accountable for your own actions as well.read more

Such deliberate misinformation (propaganda, to put it politely) is also totally at variance with Shell’s claimed core business principles. This proves beyond any doubt that the media and the public should not believe anything Shell says. The company even lies to itself.

By John Donovan

Why doesn’t Shell sue Donovan for libel?

I feel sure that this is a question that many visitors to this website have probably asked themselves many times.

It is a question that Royal Dutch Shell put to itself in July 2009.

Below is an extract from an authentic confidential Shell internal document dated 08 July 2009 in which this very question was raised in relation to “the Donovan’s.” Shell lawyers have redacted names shown on the “Confidential Focal Point”document, other than the names of my late father and myself. A series of questions are posed and then answered, to provide a contingency script if certain anticipated questions were raised by the news media, or at the Shell AGM. read more

Extract from a Joe McGinniss email to a PR officer for one of the organizations supporting the plaintiffs in the Wiwa v Shell case, in which Joe (right) criticised the $15.5 million settlement:

But I can’t help sensing that after finally reaching the point where you were about to show the world the evidence of Shell’s maleficence and perfidy you turned back from the brink, took a token payment, and let them off the hook. There may have been many sound reasons for doing so. Obviously, on balance, you collectively agreed that settlement was preferable to the trial you’d sought for thirteen years. But it was like you had the stake in your hand, and then instead of driving it into their foul and noxious heart you set it down, took their chump change, and walked away, leaving them able to scurry off spouting claims of having been “humanitarian.”read more

The threats about defamation, breach of contract, contempt of court, potential action by third parties etc are also duly noted; a fairly typical variety of seasonal greetings from Shell. Is this part of the policy of dealing with me “sympathetically” as promised in writing by Mr Wiseman on 26th November 2002? If this is the compassionate approach, it is frightening to speculate on what I could expect if Shell decided to take a hardline; perhaps a gift-wrapped bomb-tipped walking stick, or an Ebola infected fairy queen to hang on my Xmas Tree?

By John Donovan

I have been looking at our correspondence files with Shell and its lawyers stretching back two decades.

This is in connection with an ongoing project that will come to fruition in 2014.

Since we fought six high court actions against Shell between 1994 and 1999, there were bound to be some interesting episodes.

In 1997, Shell management was enraged that we were bringing yet another claim for breach of confidence and breach of contract – Shell had already settled our first three actions. read more

A month has passed since the death of my father, Alfred Donovan, at the age of 96. A war disabled and decorated veteran who spent 12 years in the British Army.

I have received many moving tributes and messages of condolences from friends and critics, for which I am most sincerely grateful.

But not one word from Shell. No gallantly shown towards a formidable opponent of Shell in recent decades (and the Japanese invaders in Burma during World War 2).

The company has been well aware for several years that if it stipulates that a communication sent to me is not for publication, that stipulation would be respected. So it could have said something off the record, but chose not to make even that minimal gesture of respect. read more

“The Observer asked the Garda and Gilligan specifically to deny the delivery, but no denial came, only a repeat of the prepared statement. The Observer replied that, unless a denial was received, we would presume the veracity of OSSLâ€™s story. Silence ensued.”

Shell’s Corrib gas project has been delayed for years by strong resistance in County Mayo. Now claims are emerging of corporate sweeteners, including a consignment of alcohol for police after a clash with protesters

For 10 years, the Shell oil and gas behemoth has endeavoured to bring ashore a pipeline from the Atlantic into the heart-stopping beauty of Ireland‘s County Mayo seaboard. And for 10 years, local people whose ancestors farmed the land and fished the ocean have been determined to stop it.

The struggle has become an epic clash between the Goliath that is Shell, backed by the Irish police, and a group assembled around the umbrella protest group Shell to Sea, whose founder, retired primary schoolteacher Maura Harrington, says that, “thanks in no small measure to the Shell to Sea campaign, the project is 10 years behind schedule and its budget has trebled”.read more

SUBJECT: THE DEATH OF MY FATHER, ALFRED DONOVAN

I am disappointed, but perhaps not surprised, that Shell management has not been gallant enough to make any comment about the death of my father, a 96 year old 2nd World War veteran who had a business relationship with Shell stretching back over 50 years, the majority of which was mutually beneficial and friendly.read more

My father, Alfred Donovan, passed away earlier today in Colchester Essex, after a short illness. “Don”, as he was known to friends and family, served in the UK Regular Army – Royal Corp of Signals (Royal Berkshire Regiment) – for 12 years. From December 1933 until March 1946 he served in the UK, Palestine, Egypt and India, and he fought in the Burma campaign in World War 2. He was a successful businessman operating a chain of garages in East London for many years, before co-founding the sales promotion agency Don Marketing, which had many blue chip clients, including Guinness, Whitbread, BP, Conoco and Royal Dutch Shell. Nearly 10 years ago he was the co-founder of this website. He was everything that anyone would wish their father to be.read more

Because of the “royaldutchshellplc.com” domain name, we regularly receive job applications, business proposals, pension enquiries, and sometimes even terrorist threats meant for Shell. We deal with all such matters as agreed with Mr Brandjes, sometimes corresponding with third parties on behalf of Shell, occasionally passing on correspondence to him. We have been offered oil wells and coalmines by third parties wrongly believing that we are Shell.

LETTER DATED 24 JUNE 2013 FROM ALFRED & JOHN DONOVAN TO SHELL INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

24 June 2013

Mr. Gary Thomson

Shell International Limited

Shell Centre

London SE1 7NA

UK

Dear Mr Thomson

Data Protection Act 1998 Subject Access Request (SAR)

Thank you for your letter dated 19 June 2013.

Please find enclosed completed application forms together with cheques based on a fee of £10 per applicant, if that is appropriate.

The application is made on an annual basis in joint names; the formula sensibly requested by your former colleague Mr Richard Wiseman and agreed to by us.

The categories of “Particular Personal Data” you have brought to our attention in the standard form supplied are not appropriate to our application. You do not have any category that is relevant to our relationship with Shell, which is unique.read more

I last wrote to you on 1st March 1999. I did so in the knowledge that your esteemed family is one of the largest single shareholders in Shell. I warned you about what I described as “a culture of deception and cover-up deeply ingrained at the highest levels of Shell”.

FINANCIAL TIMES

By Matt Steinglass in Amsterdam: 30 April 2013

EXTRACT

Joanna and the other demonstrator, Hans Maessen of the Dutch Republican Association, were arrested by agents several minutes later after she tried to hoist an expletive-laden sign attacking the royal family for their holdings in Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil company.

EXTRACTS FROM A LETTER WE SENT TO QUEEN BEATRIX ON 21 APRIL 2004 ABOUT THE ROYAL DUTCH SHELL RESERVES FRAUD

21 April 2004

HM QUEEN BEATRIX OF THE NETHERLANDS Huis ten Bosch PalaceThe Hague

Your Gracious Majesty

THE ROYAL DUTCH SHELL GROUP

I last wrote to you on 1st March 1999. I did so in the knowledge that your esteemed family is one of the largest single shareholders in Shell. I warned you about what I described as “a culture of deception and cover-up deeply ingrained at the highest levels of Shell”.read more

David Lawrence, the executive vice president directly responsible for Alaskan operations has left the company. A Shell spokesman says that “Mr. Lawrence’s departure from Shell is by mutual consent.” Lawrence had been with Shell since 1984. His departure was first reported on the site started by longtime Shell gadfly Alfred Donovan. So will David Lawrence be enough of a sacrificial lamb for Shell to satisfy investors that it’s learned its lessons? Or should the buck stop higher up the pecking order, perhaps with Marvin Odum, president of the entire Americas division…; If Odum can be this disingenuous about a certified “screw up” then you have to wonder: what else at Shell is subject to subterfuge?

Published 3/26/2013 @ 1:20PM

David Lawrence, the executive vice president directly responsible for Alaskan operations has left the company. A Shell spokesman says that “Mr. Lawrence’s departure from Shell is by mutual consent.” Lawrence had been with Shell since 1984. His departure was first reported on the site started by longtime Shell gadfly Alfred Donovan.

A year ago Lawrence had said that Shell’s planned Arctic drilling “is relatively easy.” So it’s fitting that he was made to answer for the disastrous Alaskan campaign which was marred by a host of delays, accidents and mishaps. The misadventure resulted in a couple of wells being started, then abandoned, and one of Shell’s rigs, the Kulluk, being damaged in a grounding near Kodiak Island. “ Shell screwed up in 2012,” said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar earlier this month.read more

Apparently they were first drafted in 1962, restated and first published in 1976, made freely available to the public from 1981 and reformulated in 1997, for the first time including human rights. read more

FROM OUR SEPT 2005 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ROBBERS AND RASCALS

“…Shell shareholders have to foot the bill for lawyers fees run up in the course of defending fat cat crooks, such as Sir Phillip Watts, the disgraced former Group Chairman of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. Sir Phillip ended up with a $18 million USD pension pot AND with all his ongoing legal fees being paid by Shell shareholders. This was after he had LIED AND COVERED UP THE TRUTH ABOUT SHELL’S RESERVES, AND IN THE PROCESS, DESTROYED SHELL’S REPUTATION”

By Alfred Donovan: Monday 12 Sept 2005

The press is having a field day in devising colourful headlines about the scandal ridden Royal Dutch Shell Group. An article in “The Sunday Times” yesterday had a story under the headline: “Shell move robs UK investors”. It reported on the horrendous tax implications for UK Royal Dutch shareholders resulting from the recent Royal Dutch/Shell unification and the dubious way in which Shell has dealt with the controversy thus far.

Yesterdays “Independent on Sunday” used the term “Clever Rascals” about Shell in a headline relating to the Sakhalin project in Russia and the potential ramifications in respect of the critically endangered western grey whale. For the record, the Encarta Online Dictionary definition of a “rascal” is: “dishonest person: somebody, especially a man, who is dishonest or otherwise unethical”.read more

John is wrongly credited on zoominfo.com as being the founder, owner and Group Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell. He is, in fact, a long-term shareholder in Royal Dutch Shell Plc and its predecessor, Shell Transport & Trading Company Limited.read more

It seems to me slightly over-the-top for the Sakhalin Energy source to compare the Russian Federation Government dealings with the Donovans to “another mistake similar to signing The Non-Aggression Pact between the USSR and Germany of 1939…”

By John Donovan

Definition of a “loose cannon” – An unpredictable or uncontrolled person who is likely to cause unintentional damage.

Over the last few days I have received many emails from a disgruntled translator, apparently a lady, who has been involved for some years in the Sakhalin 1 and 2 oil and gas projects.

The number, frequency and length of the emails has increased. An email received yesterday was several A4 pages in length. Eight more emails were received last night.

The most recent emails are all addressed to me and copied to many people in Sakhalin Energy and the ExxonMobil Sakhalin project.read more

“The Sixth Circuit took the position that these negative domain names used in conjunction with Web sites that raised criticism of commercial conduct were forms of expression protected by the First Amendment.93 In some instances, critics of an organization register domain names using marks associated with the target company in order to prevent the company from using those domains or to use the domains to present Web content critical of the target organization. This type of dispute exists between Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Alfred Donovan, involving the domain name www.royaldutchshellplc.com.94″read more

FROM OUR ARCHIVES…

Another dampener on Shell’s biggest corporate overhaul since the two holding firms tied up in 1907, is a spat over the rights to the web domain “royaldutchshellplc.com.” Disgruntled shareholder Alfred Donovan beat Shell to register the domain name. Shell has sued Donovan for the rights to the domain but while the matter plays out, Donovan uses the site to lambaste Shell management.

The Washington Post: Shell shareholders to back unification

Friday 24 June 2005

All Reuters News DUBLIN (Reuters) – Royal Dutch/Shell shareholders are expected to vote overwhelmingly in favor of scrapping the oil giant’s century-old dual-listed structure on Tuesday.

Shell hopes the unification of its Dutch and British parent companies will improve management efficiency and accountability, areas on which the firm needs to reassure investors after a damaging reserves overbooking scandal last year.

“It’s what investors have been calling for. Hopefully it will sail through … we hope it’s going to augur a new era,” said Richard Lewis, who manages $8 billion, including Royal Dutch shares, for New Star Asset Management in London.read more

Because of the royaldutchshellplc.com domain name, we receive job applications, business proposals, pension enquiries, even threats meant for Shell (as supplied today). We deal with all such matters as agreed with Mr Brandjes, sometimes corresponding with the parties on behalf of Shell, occasionally passing on correspondence to him. We have been offered oil wells and coalmines.

LETTER SENT TO MR GARY THOMSON, SHELL INTERNATIONAL LIMITED ON 30 May 2012: FROM ALFRED AND JOHN DONOVAN

Dear Mr Thomson

Data Protection Act 1998 – Subject Access Request (SAR)

Thank you for your letter dated 14 May 2012.

Please find enclosed completed application forms together with cheques based on a fee of £10 per applicant, if that is appropriate.

The application is made on an annual basis in joint names; the formula requested by your former colleague Mr Richard Wiseman and agreed to by us. Mr Wiseman informed us that after his retirement as Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc., the Company Secretary and General Counsel Corporate, Mr Michiel Brandjes, would be our designated contact with Shell. This has been the case since Mr Wiseman’s departure.read more

The firm was accused in a 2001 Sunday Times article of helping BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc spy on Greenpeace using a German agent called Manfred Schlickenrieder, who posed as a left-wing film-maker. Free University’s Blancke, who studied the incident, has computer files taken from Schlickenrieder’s room by environmental activists who became suspicious of his behavior. Those files include e-mails from Hakluyt.

By Kit Chellel and Jeremy Hodges – May 24, 2012 12:00 AM GMT+0100

Hakluyt & Co., the corporate investigations firm that hired British businessman Neil Heywood as a consultant in China, has been thrust by his death into a place it promises clients it will never be: the limelight.

“We guarantee complete confidentiality,” Hakluyt director Christopher James told Enron Corp.’s then Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling in 2001, according to an e-mail exchange that was released during a U.S. investigation into the bankrupt energy company. Hakluyt, James wrote, “places an unparalleled private intelligence network at the personal disposal of senior commercial figures.”read more

It is not the kind of place you would expect to find at the centre of a global energy war. John Donovan’s office is in a modest house in a suburb of Colchester. No electronic maps of Europe adorn his walls, as they do the walls of Gazprom’s Moscow control room. And nor are there any butlers bringing cups of tea and expensive biscuits, as you find at Shell’s head office on the Thames. There is just Donovan’s 89-year-old father, Alfred, in the room next door.read more

The Sunday Telegraph: 10 September 2007

ARTICLE ABOUT GRIPE WEBSITES

EXTRACTS

Today’s activists are giving business a bloody nose from behind their keyboards – not the barricades.

Revolutions used to happen in the streets – these days they take place online. And the targets are more often big businesses than bad governments. Banks, in particular, are feeling the brunt of grassroots internet campaigns.

Courts and trademark bodies are increasingly supportive of individuals and pressure groups when someone registers a domain name similar to that of their target so long as the site is non-commercial, with no subscriptions and no paid advertising.read more

The following extract printed in red text is from a Shell internal email supplied to us by Shell in response to a Subject Access Request we made under the UK Data Protection Act (equivalent of U.S. Freedom of Information law). Some third party information has been redacted by Shell.

FROM A HAPLESS SHELL OFFICIAL:

John and Alfred Donovan well known in UK / Hague. They perceive Shell played them and so have made it their mission to embarrass, belittle and criticize Shell, which they do quite well. Their website, royaldutchsellplc.com is an excellent source of group news and comment and I recommend it far above what our own group internal comms puts out.read more

John Donovan, who worked with Shell, reveals damaging information on the oil giant. This personal revenge has already cost the Anglo-Dutch company billions of dollars.

John Donovan, 64, is a meticulous man and very knowledgeable. For several years he has spent most of his time on what he describes as his “super-hobby”: the website royaldutchshellplc.com with scoops on the evils of the multinational.

We simply ask the leaders of Shell to respect the principles they claim to honor already. read more

Shell has been prepared to put up with the ignominy of its “No1 Enemy” receiving private communications meant for the company. Several years ago Mr Michiel Brandjes (right), Company Secretary & General Counsel Corporate, gave us written permission to vet incoming mail on behalf of Shell, using our discretion to remove and destroy what we consider to be spam and pass on to Shell what we decide they ought to see!

By John Donovan

Because Royal Dutch Shell Plc petulantly decided to keep trading under the name Royal Dutch Shell Plc despite knowing that my father, Alfred Donovan, had registered the RoyalDutchShellPlc.com domain name, a certain amount of unforeseen confusion was probably inevitable.

Shell tried to escape humiliation by attempting to seize the domain name, issuing proceedings against him. Shell lost the case and did not bother to appeal against a unanimous verdict, which resulted in yet more embarrassment.read more

A Sunday Times article published in June 2001 detailed Shell/BP undercover activities including infiltration, spying and subversion operations around the world directed at perceived enemies. Contrary to The Sunday Times headline, it was not limited to “green groups”– as can be confirmed by reading the article.

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE

By John Donovan

In a Reuters article published today, the UK company Hakluyt & Company Limited is described as “an ultra-secretive firm that is purported to spy on companies in order to gather intelligence in a more covert manner.”

A Sunday Times article published in July 2001 detailed Shell/BP undercover activities including infiltration, spying and subversion operations around the world directed at perceived enemies. Contrary to The Sunday Times headline, it was not limited to “green groups”as can be confirmed by reading the article. The clandestine activity was carried out by Hakluyt & Company Limited. read more

EXTRACTS FROM “ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST” BY LORNA SIGGINS

FROM THE FOREWORD (BY FINTAN O’TOOLE)

Though theoretically citizens in a liberal democracy, those who have stood in the way of the exploitation of the Corrib gas field by a consortium led by Shell found themselves with very little protection from their own government. Instead of seeking to negotiate a settlement on behalf of these citizens, Irish governments aligned themselves to an overwhelming extent with Shell, putting the resources of the state behind the acquisition of land and, when locals objected, mounting a policing operation that at one point included the deployment of the navy. read more

James Gill is the Garda Sergeant who allegedly made a bizarre threat relating to a Shell Corrib protestor: Give me your name and address or I’ll rape you.

The Irish Times – Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Protester to appeal defamation ruling

ÁINE RYAN

A CORRIB gas protester who was recently successfully pursued for defamation by a retired garda has appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court.

Fisherman Pat ODonnell, known locally as The Chief, claims Circuit Court Judge Margaret Heneghan could be perceived to be biased in her ruling, because she attended a Co Mayo secondary school for a time in the 1970s with retired Garda sergeant James Gill.

Mr Gill policed the Corrib protests for a number of years and sat on its monitoring committee.read more

I am afraid that there clearly is very little news (i.e. aspects of Shell’s work) for the Donovan’s to rant on about recently. A great deal is re-printed as though it’s new but is merely old stories and anti-Shell propoganda that is old history. Yes, we learn from history but we don’t have to regurgitate it repeatedly. The lead story today linking Shell with Jewish skin lamp shades is really gutter press and totally deplorable nonsense from the Donovan’s. read more

Dr Huong was buried in multiple injunctions arising from alleged defamatory postings on our website. Shell also attempted to have him committed to prison and was apparently keen that I should become a fellow prisoner, after they gave up trying to lure my father to Malaysia.

By John Donovan

In 2004, EIGHT companies within the Royal Dutch Shell Group collectively took legal action against Dr John Huong (above), a former Shell production geologist who blew the whistle on the reserves scandal and other nefarious activities carried out by Shell executives in breach of the much proclaimed Shell General Business Principles.

The Guardian reports today that several hundred senior scientists employed by Shell at the Thornton Research Centre in Cheshire “will be scattered to other offices” in what is described as a more general retreat by Shell from the UK.

Shell staff, who are said to be “seething,” apparentlybelieve the retreat from the UK is a consequence of the reserves scandal that came to light in 2004.

My son John Donovan (centre), Chairman of Don Marketing, with two fellow DM directors John Chambers (left) and Roger Sotherton (right), at the launch of the UK Make Money promotion in 1983

Our High Court action in April 1994 against Shell UK Limited in respect of the Shell Make Money promotion, provides a clear example of bullying, double-dealing and deception by Shell in its dealings with our company, Don Marketing.

In June 1993, Andrew Lazenby, the Shell executive who masterminded the serial theft of intellectual property from companies disclosing proprietary information to Shell, raised the subject of Shell Make Money in conversation with us, as did his boss, David Watson. This was a promotion to which we held joint rights with Shell.read more

On 12th October 2010, I published an article containing the warning: “…it is only a matter of time before the culture of subterfuge and deception at Wikipedia results in a scandal.” My prediction has come to pass…

By John Donovan

Jimmy Wales is to be congratulated on being the joint founder of Wikipedia and for the non-profit basis on which the organization is operated. He is obviously a man of integrity deserving of the highest praise.

Unfortunately, many contributors to Wikipedia do not share his high ethical standards and take full advantage of the fact that it is possible to edit Wikipedia corporate articles completely anonymously for financial reward, removing or suppressing negative information. Parties can completely hide any trace of their identity and motive, even their ISP addresses.read more

Shell Tanker ‘Capulonix’

It therefore seem appropriate to republish our own article on the subject.

In 1974 it was reported that a Shell employee, Leo Rapmund (36), a crewmember on the Shell tanker, Capulonix, had gone missing, presumed lost overboard.

Over two decades later Rapmunds family was contacted by a fellow crewmember at the time of the tragedy who wanted to clear his conscience about his knowledge of what really happened. Basically he revealed that Leo Rapmund had been murdered and there were many eyewitnesses to the crime.read more

MORE FREE NEWS ABOUT SHELL AND ITS LEADING RIVALS THAN ANY OTHER WEBSITE. FREE LIVE NEWS FOR SHELL, EXXONMOBIL, BP, CHEVRON AND RELATED CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECTS – OIL SANDS, OIL SPILLS & FRACKING. FREE access to historical information,news archive and current news articles (subject to subscription required on some third party websites). This is an entirely non-commercial independent website owned and operated by Alfred and John Donovan. No subscription or any other charges. No advertising. No donations solicited or accepted. 2,888, 319 million hits and 1,525,967 million page views in August 2012.read more

The days are getting shorter and the lawyers are tripping over themselves in the noontime darkness. Their cathedral minds are busy. The Four Courts silver spoon still shines with looming cases. The law does not always bring justice, even if the ladder of law has no top or no bottom!

A High Court judicial review of permissions granted for ongoing work on the Corrib Gas project is due to be heard on October 11. The judicial review was sought by An Taisce and some local residents into permissions granted by An Bord Pleanála and the then acting Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources, Pat Carey, for the pipeline and the Plan of Development. The outcome could have serious implications for the Corrib project.read more

Shell Appoints New Upstream Director17 Jan 2019 13:27Rigzoneby Andreas Exarheas
|Rigzone Staff
|Thursday, January 17, 2019
Royal Dutch Shell plc has appointed Wael Sawan as its new upstream director.
Royal Dutch Shell plc has appointed Wael Sawan as its new upstream director, with effect from July 1.
As part of …

Shell appoints Sawan upstream boss, replacing Brown17 Jan 2019 11:42London South EastLONDON, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has
appointed Wael Sawan to head its oil and gas production
division, replacing Andy Brown who will step down after 35 years
at the Anglo-Dutch company.
Sawan, a Canadian citizen of Lebanese origin, currently
…

Climate Concerns Are Pushing Oil Majors to Look Beyond Fossil Fuels15 Jan 2019 18:44Science & TechnologyIn 2016, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, started a historic plunge into new businesses.
The British-Dutch-controlled company began spending $2 billion a year on joint ventures that had little or nothing to do …

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500 EXTERNAL PUBLICATIONS CITING OUR WEBSITES

See our link list of 477 articles by the FT, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Forbes, Dow Jones Newswires, New York Times, CNBC etc, plus UK House of Commons Select Committee Hansard records, information on U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission websiteetc. all containing references to our Shell focussed websites, or our website founders Alfred and John Donovan. Includes TV documentary features in English and German, newspaper and magazine articles, radio interviews, newsletters etc. Plus academic papers, Stratfor intelligence reports and UK, U.S. and Australian state/parliamentary publications, also citing our Shell websites. Click on this link to see the entire list, all in date order with a link to an index of 60 books also containing references to our websites and/or our activities.
John Donovan, the website ownerHead-cut image of Alfred Donovan appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.

DISCLAIMER

This is not a Shell website, nor is it officially endorsed by or affiliated with Royal Dutch Shell.
There are no subscription charges nor do we solicit or accept donations.

SHELL PRELUDE TO DISASTER

The links below are to a series of articles, many triggered by a well-placed whistleblower directly involved in the pioneering Royal Dutch Shell Prelude project. Includes articles by Mr Bill Campbell above, the retired distinguished HSE Group Auditor of Shell International and another retired Shell guru with a track record of spotting potential pitfalls in major Shell projects.

NAZI NAMED SHIP HIRED BY SHELL

The campaign waged on this website by John Donovan to persuade Edward Heerema to rename the worlds biggest ship, The Pieter Schelte - which he named after his late father, Pieter Schelte Heerema, a former Officer in the German Waffen-SS - has been successful. On Friday 6 February 2015, Allseas announced that it was changing the ships name, and on 9 February announced the new name - Pioneering Spirit.

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL EMPLOYEE DATA BREACH

GLOBAL NEWS COVERAGE: FEBRUARY 2010
MORE INFORMATION: Contact details for over 176,000 employees and contractors of Royal Dutch Shell reached John Donovan and some environmental and human rights groups, ostensibly from disaffected Shell staff calling for a “peaceful corporate revolution” at the company. The database, from Shell’s internal directory, contained names and telephone numbers for all the company’s work force worldwide, including some home numbers. It was supplied with a 170­ page covering note, explaining that it was being circulated by “116 concerned employees of Shell dispersed throughout the USA, the UK, and the Netherlands”, to highlight the harm done by the company’s operations in Nigeria. John Donovan brought the leak to the attention of Shell. Tests proved that the data was authentic and he destroyed the database after being informed by Mr. Richard Wiseman, the then Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, that the confidential information if publicly disclosed, could put Shell employees and contractors in real danger.

SHELL’S ROLE IN NIGERIAN OPL 245 BRIBERY SCANDAL

Whatever fig leaves they might be trying to use to hide the truth, Shell and Eni paid over $1bn to a company called Malabu for the OPL 245 licence. Even though the payment was channelled through the Nigerian government, it was clear that Shell knew that the ultimate beneficiary was Dan Etete, the former minister of petroleum. Etete is the owner of Malabu, to whom he awarded the licence when he was Nigerian Minister of Petroleum.

SHELL PERSECUTION OF DR JOHN HUONG

SHELL SAKHALIN2 DEBACLE

NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.

MORE INFORMATION
Shell appeased and collaborated with the Nazis. The oil giant instructed its employees in the Netherlands to complete a form giving particulars about their descent, which for some, amounted to a self-declared death warrant. Shell used slave labor and was a close business partner in Germany of I.G. Farben, the notorious Nazi run chemical giant that also used slave labor and supplied the Zyklon-B gas used during the Holocaust to exterminate millions of people, including children. Shell continued the partnership with the Nazis in the years after the retirement of Sir Henri and even after his death. It was money generated on Shell forecourts around the world, profiteering from cartel oil prices, that funded the Nazi party and saved it from financial collapse. Evidence about Shell's Nazi connections can be found in extracts from "A History of Royal Dutch Shell" Volumes 1 and 2 authored by historians paid by Shell, who had unrestricted access to Shell archives. There are 67 pages in total, so takes some time to download.

Photograph (full size here) shows a Swastika flag flying at the head office of Royal Dutch Petroleum, 30 Carel van Bylandtlaan, The Hague, during the Nazi occupation of the in World War II (From Image Database Hague Municipal)

Sir Henri Deterding, the founder of the Royal Dutch Shell Group - known as "The Most Powerful Man in the World" - who became an ardent Nazi and financial supporter of Hitler and the Nazi party.

SHELL ANIMAL EXPERIMENTS

SHELL IP PIRACY

Reading between the lines in various legal documents, it seems that the allegations are that after the technology in question had been disclosed to a Shell company in the USA, the information was passed to Shell in the Netherlands in breach of confidentiality. And Royal Dutch Shell subsequently exploited the technology without payment or credit to the company holding the rights; Newton Research Partners. The inference seems to be that Twister B.V. was founded by Shell partly on trade secrets stolen from Bloom/Newton.

WEBSITE INFORMATION

DISCLAIMER: This is not a Shell website nor is it officially endorsed by or affiliated with Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Originally co-founded by the late Alfred Donovan and his son John, it is now operated by John, Shell's "No.1 Enemy", aided by an expert team, with invaluable support from retired Shell senior executives and officials as guest contributors and leaked information from Shell insiders.(JOHN DONOVAN, WEBSITE OWNER)For nearly a decade, we have operated globally under the Royal Dutch Shell Plc top level domain name, dealing on Shell’s reluctant behalf with job applications, business proposals, Shell pension enquiries, shareholder enquiries, complaints, invitations to speak at conferences, an approach from the Dutch Defence Ministry and even terrorist threats. All meant for Shell. Prospect magazine has aptly described this website as being:"An open wound for Shell":WIPO proceedings by Shell to seize the domain name failed.NO SUBSCRIPTION CHARGES: All of our watchdog activities monitoring Royal Dutch Shell, including operating this website, are carried out on a non-profit basis. Any advertising revenues generated are used to recover and/or defray operational costs. We are a news aggregator and original content website. All information is available free for educational and research purposes. SHELL TACIT ENDORSEMENT: WHAT A WELL INFORMED SHELL OFFICIAL SAID ABOUT US:
"John and Alfred Donovan well known in UK/Hague. They perceive Shell played them and so have made it their mission to embarrass,belittle and criticize Shell, which they do quite well. Their website, royaldutchshellplc.com is an excellent source of group news and comment and I recommend it far above what our own group internal comms puts out."
WARNING TO SHELL EMPLOYEES: Shell Global Affairs Security "CAS") is spying on Shell employees globally trying to trace who is visiting, posting, or leaking information to this website from Shell premises. Threats, including death threats, have allegedly been made against conscience driven Shell whistleblowers supplying us with information. The worlds biggest leak of employee details as part of a claimed corporate revolution by 116 Shell employees, suggest the espionage operation, threats and draconian litigation have not been entirely successful in cutting off the supply of information to this website. The insider leaks had already cost Shell billions on the Sakhalin Energy project and the loss of SEIC Deputy Chairman, David Greer.We publish our own carefully researched articles about Shell e.g. "How Royal Dutch Shell saved Hitler and the Nazi Party".MEDIA COVERAGE: Prospect Magazine, The Sunday Times, and The Guardian, have all published major articles about us: "Rise of the Gripe Site";"Two men and a website mount vendetta against Shell' and "92-year-old's website leaves oil giant Shell-shocked”. SHELL PETROL STATION images displayed in the website header panel are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Information on copyright issues here.
John Donovan can be contacted at [email protected]

SHELL’S $500,000 WEDDING GIFT TO CORRUPT BRUNEI ROYAL FAMILY

EXTRACT FROM ASIAN JOURNAL ARTICLE IN LIST OF LINKS BELOW: "Fireworks will light up the sky for three nights. The local unit of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has donated 500,000 Brunei dollars (US$292,400; euro 243,700) for the display, and for cultural events to be hosted by popular performers from Malaysia."

BILL CAMPBELL WHISTLEBLOWER EMAIL TO MP’S

IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS:

THIS IS WHAT IT SAID:

Subject: This could be the most important whistleblower email you have ever received.

Some unfortunate Royal Dutch Shell workers have already lost their lives. More lives are at stake.

My name is Bill Campbell. I am a former Group Auditor of Shell International. I am writing to you on a matter of conscience in an effort to avert the inevitability of another major accident in the North Sea. The consequences could potentially impact on families in many constituencies, including your own.

As Royal Dutch Shell and the Health & Safety Executive would acknowledge, I am an expert on safety matters relating to offshore oil and gas platforms. In 1999, I was appointed by Shell to lead a safety audit on the Brent Bravo platform. The audit revealed a platform management culture that basically gave a higher priority to production than the safety of Shell employees. To our astonishment we discovered that a "Touch F*** All" policy was in place. Worse still, safety records were routinely falsified and repairs bodged.

I personally brought the shocking situation to the attention of senior management including Malcolm Brinded, the then Managing Director of Shell Exploration & Production. I revealed that ESDV leak-off tests were purposely falsified, not once but many times and that Brent Bravo platform management had admitted responsibility for the dangerous practices being followed. In response to my team ringing alarm bells, management pledged to rectify the serious problems which had been uncovered.

When I later complained that the pledges were not being kept, I was removed from my oversight function.

Four years later, a massive gas leak occurred on the platform. Two workers lost their lives. I have no doubt at all that the inaction of the relevant Asset Manager, the General Manager, the Oil Director and Malcolm Brinded, contributed in some part to the unlawful killing of two persons on Brent Bravo in September 2003.

Shell subsequently pleaded guilty to breaches of the HSE regulations and a record-breaking £900,000 fine was imposed. I thought this would bring about a real change in policy to put the emphasis on safety.

Unfortunately I was wrong. Although I supplied the evidence related to 1999, and the fact that there had been a collapse in controls of integrity from 1999 to 2003 on all 16 of Shell's North Sea offshore installations covered in a post fatality integrity review to the HSE for review by the Procurator Fiscal, none of this evidence was presented before the Sheriff at the subsequent Inquiry. The situation is explained in a letter to the Procurator Fiscal and the Sheriff (on 24th February 2007).

Shell management has engaged in spin to try to pretend that it is getting to grips with its safety problem. However, its atrocious safety record - the worst in the North Sea in terms of accidental deaths and absolute number of enforcement actions – tells a different story. This fact has resulted in a number of newspaper articles.

I have had meetings with senior Shell people including its CEO Mr. Jeroen van der Veer. I regret to say that I have found him to be economical with the truth. He prefers to support cover-up and deceit rather than confronting the underlying problems. Brinded is now Executive Director of Shell Exploration & Production. He believes in burying evidence.

My family and friends would probably prefer me to give up on this matter and enjoy my retirement after so many years working for Shell.

However, by writing to every MP in the UK, no one can ever say that I did not do my best to avert an inevitable further major accident event in the North Sea. When it happens (I pray that I am wrong) I will make this warning communication available to the media together with the vast amount of evidence in my possession.

At least my conscience is clear. I have done everything possible to ring the alarm bells about Shell management and its unscrupulous attitude to the safety of its employees.

Yours sincerely
Bill Campbell

ENDS

(Malcolm Brinded and Jeroen van der Veer are no longer with Shell. The Oil Director referred to in the email is Chris Finlayson, who left Shell to become Chief Executive of British Gas before being fired - his photo immediately below)

SHELL RESERVES FRAUD

SIR PHILIP WATTS, THE GROUP CHAIRMAN OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL GROUP, FORCED TO RESIGN IN 2004

Shell’s reputation was destroyed in 2004 after FIVE consecutive cuts to its hydrocarbon reserves covering 55% of its total reserves. US and UK financial regulators imposed $150 million in fines on Shell for securities fraud. Shell was also rocked by class action lawsuits.Sir Philip Watts
and Walter van de Vijver (whose headcut images appear courtesy of The Wall Street Journal) were among the Shell executives forced to resign. More details at the foot of this column.
MORE DETAILS: The Shell reserves scandal brought about
the end of the Royal Dutch Shell Group in its original form as an Anglo-Dutch partnership.
Shell Transport & Trading Co and Royal Dutch Petroleum were unified into a single Dutch owned company - Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Sir Philip turned to religion and is now a very wealthy priest after receiving a payoff/pension package from Shell reportedly worth $18.5 million. Walter van de Vijver in contrast was the victim of a sadistic sacking by his Shell senior management backstabbing colleagues.

by John Donovan

Displayed below are some of the spectacular promotional campaigns my company Don Marketing created for Shell in the 1980s and 1990s. This was before the series of SIX high court actions we brought against Shell for stealing ideas (4) and for defamation (2) - all settled by Shell. This website is a permanent response by me to the malicious underhand tactics, including treachery, espionage and intimidation, used by Shell during and after the bouts of litigation. More information is printed at the foot of this column.
MORE DETAILS: After a solicitor acting for Shell threatened to make the litigation "drawn out and difficult" with the intention of draining the resources of a financially weaker opponent, my late father (Alfred Donovan) and I decided to mount a wide-ranging campaign as a counter-measure. We jointly founded the Shell Corporate Conscience Pressure Group, which nearly 15% of Shell UK retailers joined. We regularly conducted ethical surveys involving up to 1500 Shell petrol stations. All responses were opened and authenticated by an independent solicitor who supplied Affidavits confirming the results. In whole page announcements in trade magazines (examples above) we challenged Shell to commission and publish the resuits of independent research asking the same questions and offering respondents GUARANTEED anonymity. Shell never took up the invitation. Instead it asked the UK Advertising Standards Authority to investigate our Shell surveys. No problems were found. The head-cut image of Alfred Donovan appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.

SHELL CONTROVERSIES

selection of memorable warnings/articles/images associated with the controversial track record of Royal Dutch Shell.

WARNING: DO NOT DISCLOSE YOUR IDEAS TO SHELL GameChanger OR SHELL Ideas360 WITHOUT TAKING EVERY POSSIBLE PRECAUTION. Shell management has ample funds to pay for intellectual property but prefers to steal it from small businesses and in our experience, gives its full backing to dishonest managers willing to do its bidding. We have sued Shell repeatedly in the High Court for the theft of our Intellectual Property. It is doubtful if anyone can match our dire experience in dealing with this ruthless unscrupulous serial poacher of other parties ideas. Expect threats, legal machinations and sinister action from Shell and its spooks if you object to having your ideas stolen.

Some years ago extensive documentary evidence was brought to the attention of Malcolm Brinded above, when he was Chairman of Shell UK, proving beyond any doubt that Shell executives had conspired to rig a tender for a major contract. A number of innocent firms were deliberately lured into signing confidentiality agreements and disclosing Intellectual Property to Shell under false pretences, in a carefully contrived plot. The firm which was awarded the contract never took part in the tender. One objective of the Machiavellian plan was to stop/delay IP trade secrets owned by the participants in the tender from being disclosed to Shell's rivals. This was achieved by outright deception, without paying a cent to the firms involved, who wrongly believed they were participating in an honest tender. Instead of sacking the ring leader, AJL - who had a personal relationship with the firm which miraculously won the race in which it never ran - Shell senior directors, including Brinded, gave AJL their full backing. Some of the Shell executives involved, including for example, Tim Hannagan, still hold high positions inside Shell - in his case, Global Brand and Visual Identity Manager. If Shell does not accept that this is a true, provable account of what happened, then it should sue for libel. How on earth is such predatory conduct compatible with Shell's claimed business principles?